Quick take on LaRoche and first base

It doesn’t take long for one tweet to create a stir and that tweet came from ESPN’s Jayson Stark a few moments ago when he tweeted this:

“Here’s another team to add to list of Adam LaRoche pursuers: The #Orioles. An exec of one interested team says O’s in on him “hard.”

This would make sense from one standpoint in that LaRoche is an upgrade over Mark Reynolds. I have had more than one person at these meetings tell me they felt the O’s didn’t non-tender Reynolds so much due to dollars but because they felt they could upgrade at the position. LaRoche would be an upgrade.

The 33-year-old lefty hitter is coming off a big year where he hit .271 for the Nationals with 33 homers and 100 RBIs along with an OPS of .853 in 154 games. After the season he was named winner of a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger.

Reynolds has a career batting average of .235 with an OBP of .332 and .807 OPS. LaRoche has numbers of .268/.338/.820.

The Nationals have indicated they would consider re-signing LaRoche for two years but would not, at this point, go for a three-year deal.

LaRoche has made some comments that indicate he really wants to remain with the Nationals. Is this news about the Orioles simply a negotiating tactic or does this rumor have legs?

Would the Orioles be going after LaRoche hard enough to offer a third year?